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The omni antenna pattern resembles a large donut:
In order for the transmitter or receiver to communicate, the donuts need to touch:
This is achieved when the antennas are oriented in the same direction (e.g. vertically or
horizontally) and are not on the same axis. The orientation of the antennas is referred to as
“polarity”; the units in the picture above are vertically polarized. Note that in the image below,
the antennas are both polarized the same way however they are on the same axis so there is
no contact between the “donuts”. This would be a poor setup and likely would not produce the
best possible signal strength.
